Bob Holtzman

Topic #1 from our NACDA webinar this week: Reimagining the Fan Experience in a Digital Age ❓ What is being done to leverage technology and innovation to enhance fan engagement, and what are the implications for revenue generation and sustainability? Panelist, Darien Harris, is taking notes to make sure the fans at Michigan State University have an incredible experience by being more efficient. From a more seamless entry process, additional bathroom facilities, and a fast POS process at concessions. He commented: "I think that with a lot of things in sports, we learn from each other. So at the collegiate space, in terms of fan experience, especially in venue, we're learning a lot from the pro space and trying to adapt and change with the times to keep up" Then we heard from Jason Belzer and how they see their 50+ collectives at Student Athlete NIL as the entrepreneurial arm of the university where they can implement more creative solutions to keep fans engaged throughout the year. He said: "Say you have maybe 50,000, to 100,000 people that come to your football game once a week for six times a year, but you have an alumni base of a million people. How many of those are actually engaging with your athletics department consistently? The answer is, it's very few. So what's that engagement look like for the rest of the year outside of when somebody is actually watching your game? And we believe that the collective and leveraging the student athletes as the ambassadors is what's going to allow universities to be able to generate more revenue than they are today and make the pie bigger for everybody." 📺Check out full conversation on YouTube : https://lnkd.in/gZm75_3m #collegesports #NIL #fanengagement Five Star Fans Jennifer Dean Hot Paper Lantern Digital Sport By Hot Paper Lantern Jackson Gaskins Jason A. Martin

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The OpEd piece by Bill Miller (President, American Gaming Association) asking for federal action against illegal online gambling operators in the Pittsburgh-Tribune is spot on (see link). It's time for "the Feds" (Department of Justice and FBI) to take comprehensive action to block / disable illegal gambling sites that US players are accessing. The Feds were super effective at dismantling the illegal online prescription drug business in the 1990's. They can do the same for illegal online gambling sites and apps and help our industry protect players in the United States of America. https://lnkd.in/gb8mm7gp

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VA Media has a smart YouTube-centric biz model. They combine premium content libraries with social AVOD distribution. HIGHLIGHTS - 20M YT subs - 26M hrs watched / month - 130M views / month They do this by buying AVOD rights to high quality Hollywood and library content. They also produce their own original content. Then they create profitable social-native O&O media brands via smart curation and audience development. Their O&O IP and licensed content can be extended to other AVOD distribution platforms, and can be monetized in a variety of ways outside YouTube Adsense. Further, they have a premium services team that can help rights holders better exploit their IP on YouTube and other socials through white-glove support. The business has a lot of growth headroom, and there's much more planned. We enjoyed working with the company's CEO Mark Ashbridge and his board. They're good people, and are asking the right quetions. If you're a rightsholder that wants to grow your audience reach and monetization through VA Media's global digital media network, they're worth a call. Or take a meeting with CEO Ash next time he's stateside (lives in AUS). -- I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open.

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Churn Notice ° In Q1 2024, the SVOD industry added 55.2 millions subs. ° Collectively SVODs LOST 50.4 million subscribers to cancellation. ° Combined, the premium streamers netted just 4.8 million new paying customers. ° Sub retention for Media’s premium streaming platforms has fallen 73% in just two years. ° Seventy-three percent. What can you DO about it? Start here: https://lnkd.in/eZjyquCu #churn #streaming #bundles

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Google’s $250M pledge to fund California journalism is making waves, but is it really a win for publishers, or just another strategic play to avoid regulation? 🤔 With AI-driven search reshaping the landscape and Big Tech under scrutiny, this move raises big questions about the future of news. Explore how this deal impacts local journalism, AI, and the power balance between tech and media. Discover the full story on AdMonsters and how it could affect the future of digital publishing. #AdTech #Publishing #Journalism #Google

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📱 Apple’s iOS 18 Update Could Crush Social App Growth – Here’s Why! What's new: iOS 18 introduces selective contact-sharing permissions, meaning users can now choose which contacts to share with apps—no more blanket access. Why it matters: Apps like Instagram and WhatsApp historically thrived on syncing contacts to help users connect with friends. Zoom out: Some developers fear this change will hinder the growth of new social apps by limiting their access to user networks. Big picture: Privacy: Apple says the change enhances privacy by restricting access to unwanted or sensitive contacts. Unfair advantage? Developers accuse Apple of not applying the same rule to its own apps, like iMessage, calling it anticompetitive. Winners & losers: Established giants like Instagram might benefit, while new apps struggle to build networks. The bottom line: The shift could push users to content-based platforms like TikTok, while exposing the tension between privacy and competition in the app world.

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There are 2 parts to every live streamer and content creator: 1. The human off camera 2. The creator on camera It’s obvious so many streamers mask their problems and mental distress from #1 with #2 — they simply don’t want to live #1, and use #2 as a drug fueled by metrics and numbers. Streaming and content creation is a career — it can’t be lived as an escape. It’s the responsibility of managers and agents to make sure #1 is healthy, in order for #2 to be appropriately successful.

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I've learned the hard way that patience beats FOMO in attending gaming conferences. Rushing to attend can lead to costly mistakes. Here's how indie studios can make smarter decisions. 1. Evaluate the ROI: Before committing to a conference like GDC, analyze the potential return on investment. Will it provide valuable networking, learning opportunities, and exposure for your studio? • Check if the conference offers valuable sessions. • See if there are good networking chances. • Think about how it can help your studio grow. 2. Plan and Budget Ahead: Conferences can be expensive. Set a clear budget covering travel, accommodation, and attendance fees well in advance to avoid last-minute financial stress. • Check to see if there are any scholarships available. Organizations like Indie Game Business or Global Game Jam sometimes provides free tickets. • Set a budget and stick to it. • Book everything early to save money. 3. Prioritize Key Events: Focus on attending the most relevant talks, workshops, and networking events. This helps you get the most out of the conference without feeling overwhelmed. • Pick the sessions that matter most to your studio. • Have a backup plan for full sessions. • Don’t try to do everything; focus on quality. 4. Network Strategically: Most large conferences have services like Meet2Match. Reach out to people online and book a meeting with them ahead of time. Research them beforehand and prepare your pitch to make meaningful connections that can benefit your studio. • Make a list of people you want to meet. • Research them to find common interests. • Prepare a short pitch about your studio. 5. Take Care of Your Team: If you're bringing team members, ensure their well-being is a priority. Encourage breaks, proper rest, and team-building activities to keep everyone motivated and energized. • Schedule breaks and rest times. • Encourage team-building activities. • Keep everyone motivated and happy.

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First of all, how hilarious would it be if the spin-off was named Kable Town?! Second, what Evan Shapīro is saying that logically they would spin-off ALL the TV assets together makes sense on the surface, but not all TV assets are created equal. NBC & Sports are still hugely valuable to them (Olympics is a gold mine), and to Peacock, the other assets are not. They want to be making content for The Cock, not USA and definitely not ScyFy. But if they keep USA 8 ScyFy, they to have to make content for them even if their ratings decline every day. Third, MSNBC is just a pain in the ass. It’s a massive management distraction because every time Joy Reid or Morning Joe say something crazy - which is every time they go on air - Comcast execs get a flurry of phone calls. So it’s a constant distraction. Which was worth putting up with when the ratings were high and they could make a lot of ad dollars off it. But ratings are in the toilet. The other reason to own a news network is political clout but MSNBC does the opposite, it just pisses people off. They will have much more political clout by retaining NBC News alone. And this is to a large degree an effort to save what’s left of the journalistic reputation of NBC News from the dumpster fire that is MSNBC. Fourth, when I was at Comcast even several years ago, the attitude was that the pay TV business was a low margin business and when people cut the cord, they just bought more broadband and Comcast didn’t have to pay Disney and all the rest their random money for cable nets like ESPN. The reason they got into running their own cable nets was as leverage in negotiations with other cable carriers and the ad dollars on cable TV, neither of which are worth near as much now as they were then. It’s just businesses that are no longer strategically valuable and can probably be run more efficiently as a standalone company without consuming management bandwidth anymore.

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Highlighting: “CEO David Zaslav told investors its games business was "substantially underperforming its potential" despite "four strong and profitable game franchises with loyal, global fans": Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones and DC, "in particular" Batman." ----- Game Publishing Analysis: No Zaslav, Batman was before your time. Doesn't count. The last Batman Arkham game was 2015's Batman Arkham Knight, 9 years ago. And since then Rocksteady was on Suicide Squad. Don't mention Batman from a decade ago. Meanwhile has Game of Thrones ever had a truly breakout hit game to be called a pillar of WB Games? It's mid-tier mobile. Have I missed something? Shadows of Mordor/War as LotR spinoffs have likely had more impact. And seriously how can you not mention LEGO? I know its owned by Kirkbi and licensed, but WB Games puts out a metric ton of LEGO games. Not even joking. Wikipedia GoT Games: https://lnkd.in/gyQU2Wb9 Wikipedia LEGO Games: https://lnkd.in/gZAxBhxz The WB Games pillars have been DC, Mortal Kombat, Lego, & Harry Potter. If Zaslav want to make Batman a callout then MAKE BATMAN games. Injustice has had a more recent update than Batman in releases. And Multiversus has more Batman than Gotham Knights does. Its okay for DC to be a pillar ----- GamesIndustryBiz: "Warner Bros Discovery says its games division is "substantially underperforming" The company is now committed to "focusing efforts on those four core franchises with proven studios" "Warner Bros Discovery has taken "another $100+ million impairment" due to the "underperforming" MultiVersus. In its latest financial call, as reported by VGC, CEO David Zaslav told investors its games business was "substantially underperforming its potential" despite "four strong and profitable game franchises with loyal, global fans": Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones and DC, "in particular" Batman. Consequently, Warner Bros Discovery has committed to "focusing [its] development efforts on those four core franchises with proven studios to improve [its] success ratio." "Results were impacted by games, for which we took another $100+ million impairment due to the underperforming releases – primarily MultiVersus – this quarter, bringing total writedown year-to-date to over $300 million in our games business, the key factor in this year’s Studios profit decline," Zaslav said. "In Q4, we expect games to be flat to modestly better year-over-year, as last year’s launch of Hogwarts Legacy on the Switch platform in November is offset by lower costs." "But even in an industry of hits and misses, we must acknowledge that our studio business must deliver more consistently," he added. "This applies to our games business, which we recognise is substantially underperforming its potential right now." GamesIndustryBiz: https://lnkd.in/g-DGEebT #gameindustry #wbd #wbie #wbgames #warnerbros #dc #harrypotter #lego #mortalkombat

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